Yang Xiayun didn’t know the meaning of foodie, but she took it as a compliment and clapped her hands, "I am a foodie, I am a foodie." Yang Chuxia didn’t know whether to laugh or cry at her reaction.
After the family had a happy and delicious lunch, in the afternoon, Yang Chuxia didn’t go to the fields with Yang Dachuan. Instead, she stayed home to clean the small crabs, shrimps, and fish they had caught in the morning. The old folks in the Yang Family saw her washing these ingredients by the well but didn’t say much, only snorting twice as they passed by. It was Yang Ruoqiu who looked down on her family’s poverty, even eating such crab shells, and when she saw the small fish, she couldn’t help but laugh loudly, saying that Chuxia was so greedy that she even ate baby fish.
Yang Chuxia snorted inwardly, thinking that she wouldn’t bother with someone as ignorant as Ruoqiu. Just wait until she made some delicious food, then Ruoqiu would beg her on her knees. With that thought, Chuxia continued her chores, looking at the small crabs and weighing them. Actually, they weren’t that small, at least similar in size to the drunken crabs she had eaten in Ningbo in her previous life.
After she finished cleaning the crabs and other ingredients, she also cleaned the clay pots, dried tangerine peels, and ginger slices that Yang Dachuan had bought.
Then she and Ms. Wang moved the spices and other ingredients to the kitchen, while the crabs and clay pots were moved to the third branch of the family’s house.
To pickle the crabs, she needed to first make a salt brine, a crucial step in the process. So before starting, she sent Yang Qingrui out to keep watch.
"What shall we do, Xiaxia?" asked Ms. Wang, wiping her hands. Although she was doubtful about what her daughter wanted to do, she figured that since they had bought everything, they might as well go ahead—it was just food, after all.
"Mother, could you put the crabs in the clay pots for me in our room? I’ll need them later."
She then told Ms. Wang that before putting the crabs in the pots, she needed to first place dried tangerine peels, ginger slices, and candied plums at the bottom of the pots.
After Ms. Wang left, Chuxia rolled up her sleeves and first added some water to the pot, followed by salt and peppercorns. She covered the pot with a lid and started a high fire.
Naturally, her lighting a fire at this time caught the attention of the old folks in the Yang Family, but no one dared to approach her, as she was known to start a fight at the drop of a hat. Moreover, Yang Qingrui was standing guard at the door, so they couldn’t sneak a peek even if they wanted to.
After the salt brine had boiled, Yang Chuxia poured it into a clean wooden barrel, then cleaned the stove before carrying the barrel back to the third branch of the family’s house.
Inside the house, Ms. Wang had already filled the clay pots with the crabs. The pots weren’t very big but still managed to hold all the crabs.
Seeing this, Yang Chuxia poured the dense salt brine into the pots, followed by some yellow rice wine. She then added some ginger slices, orange peel, candied plums, and finally sealed the pots with strong liquor.
And so the raw pickled drunken crabs were done. However, she suddenly realized that she had forgotten one thing.
There were no refrigerators in this world, and the hot weather would easily spoil the food.
There was no way the Yang Family would have any ice storage. What should she do now?
Yang Chuxia looked around the room in distress, then suddenly her eyes lit up. How had she not thought of this?
She took the family’s shovel and began digging a hole in their room, which frightened Ms. Wang.
"Xiaxia, what on earth are you doing? Why are you..."
Yang Chuxia held a finger to her lips, "Hush... Let’s talk about this later."
With that, she continued digging until the hole was more than a meter deep. She then placed the two clay pots inside and carefully covered them with soil.